30 Democrats show up to face charges
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Legal expert says case groundless as all financial transactions were revealed
As many as 30 Democrat Party MPs turned themselves in yesterday to face the charge that they violated the Political Party Act by donating money to their party.
This is despite the fact that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had decided to call six MPs at a time to face the charge.
Democrat MP for Songkhla, Wiratana Kalayasiri, who led the other party-list MPs to hear the charge, said the case was politically motivated because Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung and his cronies had come up with a majority vote to have the DSI take up the case.
He said the accusations were groundless as Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had asked the Secretariat of the House of Representatives to make deductions from the salaries of Democrat MPs and donate them to the party in one cheque and issue a list of names of the donors.
He said that since 2007, the party has given Parliament a receipt for the donations every month and provided information on its financial transactions and donations to the Election Commission. The EC has never questioned the donation method, he added.
Wiratana, who is also the party’s legal expert, said he had told the 30 MPs that they did not have to put their signature down to acknowledge the charge, though the DSI had the power to get their fingerprints.
Also, he said, the DSI was not allowed to take their photographs or make an audio recording while the charges are being read out.
He said the Democrats were confident of winning the case, because if it turns out that they have violated the law, then the Secretariat of the House of Representatives and the EC would also be held responsible.
Chief investigator Pol Colonel Niran Adulyasak said that though the case was not serious, the DSI had to ensure that the law was strictly followed.
He said the department would not include the House secretariat and the EC in the investigation. Democrats Kanok Wongtrangan, Korn Chatika-vanij, Kiat Sithiamorn, Kasit Piromya, Kalaya Soponpanich and Kowit Tharana were the first six summoned to face the charge.
